Benefits of being a member of VYM

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BEING IN VYM

Membership of VYM is currently free* for all who work with and who have a professional interest in the needs, issues and services for young people in Manchester. Becoming a member is simple – just go to the orange box on the left of the page, where it says Join the VYM Network and give us your details, so you can receive our regular bulletins and be made aware of the activities we offer.

VYM aims to offer services that respond to the expressed needs of our members, such as:

A regular e-bulletin that responds to the need to be kept up to date about youth policy, events, funding opportunities, training, resources, etc;

Regular network gatherings, training and conferences that respond to the need for networking opportunities, mutual support & learning;

Practice focused workshops that respond to the need to share good practice about the experience of delivering day to day youth work;

Tried and trusted qualitative measurement tools that respond to the need of organisations to be able to demonstrate quality and outcomes of the work you do;

A developing data management tool that responds to the need for a simple way of recording, monitoring and reporting on work delivered and outcomes achieved;

Sub-networks that respond to the need for smaller fora where workers can pool knowledge and experience around specific areas of youth work, eg, participation, boyswork, or local geographical areas;

A mandated voice in engagement with strategic partners that responds to the need to be heard in strategic fora that discuss services delivered by our members.

* All the above is currently offered for free to our members but times are changing, the funding environment getting tougher and a review is underway. We will however work hard to ensure that any future costs are kept to a minimum.

However, the best people to define the benefits of being in VYM are our members:

Sarah Riley – Great Places/Levenshulme Youth Project‘As a new organisation being part of VYM has helped us to ensure we are building a safe and sustainable project. It’s a great way to meet similar groups and identify potential partnerships. Their advice and support on funding and commissioning has been invaluable.’